Hooters Loses Bruised Waitress Case

A waitress was barred from working at the Hooters restaurant in Davenport after a violent physical attack left her bruised and unable to meet company standards for maintaining a “glamorous appearance.”

The waitress alleges she was fired after taking time off to recover from the assault. Hooters officials say the waitress abandoned her job, but also say that the woman’s bruised body made her temporarily ineligible to work as a “Hooters Girl.”
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An administrative law judge who presided over a recent public hearing dealing with 27-year-old Sara Dye’s request for unemployment benefits ruled against the company and awarded benefits to Dye. Judge Teresa Hillary found that Dye’s “inability to work due to bruises” did not amount to workplace misconduct.

According to testimony at the hearing, Dye was the victim of several incidents of domestic violence in 2008, the last of which occurred Sept. 3 after she left work for the day. Dye, who lives in Rock Island, Ill., was badly beaten and her assailant – unidentified at the hearing – cut off some of her hair.

The next day, Dye and her managers agreed that at least for the next few weeks she should not be working in the restaurant. General Manager Gina Sheedy testified that Dye’s bruises would have been visible outside the Hooters uniform, which is known for being revealing.

“We told her it was probably not in her best interest to work for a while because of the state of her body,” Sheedy testified.

Hillary asked Sheedy whether the restaurant would have agreed to a request from Dye to return to work immediately.

“No, probably not,” Sheedy replied. “She probably would not be able to work because of her black eye and the bruises on her face. … Our handbook states you have to have a glamorous appearance. It doesn’t actually say, ‘Bruises on your face are not allowed.’ It does talk about the all-American cheerleader look.”

The mind boggles. Seriously.

Eh. Who are we kidding? Hooters sucks anyway. The food is awful and the waitresses, while somewhat attractive (for the most part) wear the absolute most hideous “uniforms” ever. Honestly, ladies. The orange tights/stockings suck. Hooters was probably cool in 1983 in the redneck shithole it was founded in (Clearwater? Blech). Since then? Shit.